Juvenile hormones direct primordial germ cell migration to the embryonic gonad.

ABSTRACT: Germ cells are essential to sexual reproduction. Across the animal kingdom, extracellular signaling isoprenoids, such as retinoic acids (RAs) in vertebrates and juvenile hormones (JHs) in invertebrates, facilitate multiple processes in reproduction. Here we investigated the role of these potent signaling molecules in embryonic germ cell development, using JHs in Drosophila melanogaster as a model system. In contrast to their established endocrine roles during larval and adult germline development, we found that JH signaling acts locally during embryonic development. Using an in vivo biosensor, we observed active JH signaling first within and near primordial germ cells (PGCs) as they migrate to the developing gonad. Through in vivo and in vitro assays, we determined that JHs are both necess

SUBMITTER: Barton LJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10872347 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature